


The Force of Love Beginning

by thegrayness



Category: Schitt's Creek (TV) RPF
Genre: #sexycologne for banging, Alcohol, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hand Jobs, M/M, Misunderstandings, Sexual Content, Yuletide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 20:14:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21814546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegrayness/pseuds/thegrayness
Summary: At the final wrap party, Dan and Noah summon their (partially liquid) courage and tell each other how they feel.Featuring Dan Levy's tobacco "get lucky" cologne.
Relationships: Dan Levy/Noah Reid
Comments: 22
Kudos: 134
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	The Force of Love Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sonni89](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sonni89/gifts).



> Set in a world where Dan and Noah are single. Title from "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

They’ve been flirting for—well— _years_. Since Noah first auditioned in front of Dan Levy and apparently charmed him enough to get the job. Noah has asked, once or twice when they’d first started filming, about what the deciding factor was, hoping it wasn’t something lame like, “I trust Stacey,” (which… that could just _not_ be true). He’d always hoped it was something artistic like, “You captured the essence of Patrick better than I ever thought possible.”

As it is, all Dan ever says about it during the Up Close & Personal events is, “Your overconfident under-preparedness really sold it for me.” Noah wishes it wasn’t always the same scripted answer.

Regardless, the flirting started immediately—Dan commenting on Noah’s tight pants, an intimate rehearsal moment before they filmed Grad Night, kisses that lasted just a few seconds too long after the director called _cut_ , a _lot_ of time spent together between scenes. Between seasons, Noah always thought things might change, that first day back on set, but Dan would greet him with a tight hug and Noah would kiss his cheek and they’d fall back into the same comfortable push-pull as always.

It’s been three years and Noah has decided that if anything—anything _real_ —is ever going to happen between the two of them, he’s going to have to put himself out there, and it’s going to have to be tonight. It’s their very last wrap party—this is essentially his last chance. Noah tries really hard not to overthink his outfit. He attempts to style his hair and it does kind of work, but it’s not as good as he’d hoped. He doesn’t want to be late, so he gives himself a final once over, declares it good enough, and heads out. 

*

Their final wrap party is almost in full swing by the time Dan arrives with Amy, and Noah has just finished his first beer. Noah watches him greet everyone, watches him press his face into Lucky’s neck, watches him accept a cocktail from Annie, who immediately pulls him closer to the music so they can awkwardly dance for a few moments. He sees Dan lean over to say something into Annie’s ear, and then Annie gestures in Noah’s direction. 

_This is it_ , he thinks and stands, like he’s about to meet his blind date. Then Dan looks over at him and smiles, and he almost decides to sit back down because a real smile from Dan Levy—toothy and dimply and bright—is enough to make Noah feel off balance.

Noah wraps him up in a hug once he’s close enough, like they’ve done a hundred times before, and Dan returns it, arms tight around Noah’s shoulders. Dan is humming pleasantly and they’re kind of swaying a little, and Noah presses a kiss to Dan’s neck, and then inhales deeply. 

_Oh._

He takes another breath, trying not to be obvious that he’s aggressively sniffing his boss and—there it is. Dan’s wearing his tobacco cologne. The Italian one. 

He’s wearing his _get lucky_ cologne. 

Noah knows it’s Dan’s get lucky cologne because Dan has the same soap in his trailer, and he’d said as much to Noah when he’d asked about it. “Whenever I need to—” Dan had shrugged self-consciously, “—feel confident or something, I wear it. It draws people in. If I’m looking for… something,” Dan winked, “it usually helps me get it.” 

Noah hadn’t known what to say then—he’d found it difficult to believe that Dan needed any kind of help getting laid, especially from a fancy Italian apothecary—so he’d just changed the subject to the next scene they were slated to shoot.

Now, with his face in Dan’s neck, Noah feels sick. He really—he’d thought this was his _chance_. And now… and now Dan’s here trying to… _impress_ someone. Noah clears his throat and pulls away from the hug, though he lets his hands linger on Dan’s waist for just a moment. 

“Hi.” Dan has to yell over the music. “Do you need a drink?” He gestures to Noah’s empty hand. Noah’s brain is on autopilot, so he nods, and thinks about how stupid he was to think that Dan—that he’d had any kind of shot with Dan. 

Dan.

Dan who’s flagging down the bartender and seconds later is pushing an ice-cold bottle of his favorite beer into his hand. Dan who, he’d _thought_ flirted with him nonstop. Who he’d thought—

Noah is pulled from his spiraling thoughts by the feeling of Dan’s hand against his lower back. Noah’s wearing a thin button-up, with short sleeves, and the heat of Dan’s palm is burning his skin. 

All of a sudden, Noah has no idea what to _say_. What had he and Dan ever talked about? 

Dan grabs Noah’s free hand—and now they’re _holding hands_?—and tugs him over to a free corner booth, big enough for the two of them, but no one else. There’s a paper placard tented on the table, _reserved,_ it says in unassuming serif font. Dan knocks the sign to the floor and sits down, leaving barely enough room for Noah to squeeze in next to him. They’re touching from shoulder to knee, and Noah briefly thinks that this isn’t any way for Dan to impress anyone, if he’s tucked into a corner with Noah like this. 

He decides not to mention it. 

Sucking down more of his drink, Dan looks at Noah expectantly. Noah blinks. 

“Noah,” Dan says, and his voice is serious, but he’s kind of yelling so it’s kind of not that serious. “I’m—” Dan clears his throat, like this is really tough for him to say, and Noah briefly panics that Dan is about to let him down easy, about to tell him that, yeah, they’d flirted, but he’d been conflating David and Patrick with Dan and Noah and really, he had his eye on someone else— probably that producer with good hair, and Noah tries to forget any idea he may have had about making a move.

“Are you even listening to me?” Dan asks, and Noah is mortified because he absolutely was _not_ listening. Dan looks amused, at least, and not angry at having been halfway through a likely emotional speech only to have Noah distractedly catastrophize instead. 

“Um,” Noah says eloquently and then he takes a long pull from his beer. He thinks Dan’s eyes watch his throat as he swallows, but at this point he’s pretty convinced he dreamed up the whole ‘ _maybe he’s into me’_ thing. 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Dan continues, “I just wanted to say that I’m—I’m really _so grateful_ for what you’ve given me—the show. Just—” he takes a deep breath. “Okay, my first speech was a lot better, it’s a shame you _missed it_ ,” Dan grumbles, but the smile around the rim of his glass sort of gives him away. 

Noah grins and takes another gulp of beer. “Okay, Dan. I’m sure your original thank you speech was lovely, and expertly delivered, and I’m ashamed that I was—distracted—enough to miss out. For the record, the pleasure was surely all mine.” Noah is trying to be charming—he’s not sure why at this point—but the way Dan tucks his smile into the corner of his mouth makes him glad he made the effort. It’s Dan’s ‘ _I find you charming but hell will freeze over before I admit it’_ smile, and Noah could probably catalogue every one he’s ever received. 

“Okay. You think you’re so cute—”

“I am so cute—”

“—but actually it wasn’t a _thank you_ speech.”

Noah furrows his brow. “You just said you’re so grateful?”

Dan downs the last of his drink and sets it back on the table a little too hard, making them both jump. “No. I mean _yes_. I’m grateful. You brought Patrick to life with such heart and skill and—I’m just—”

The producer with the good hair (okay, his name is Phillip and Noah knows that) comes up to them, despite the pretty heavy ‘do not disturb’ vibes Noah thinks they’re emitting, and lays a hand on Dan’s shoulder. Noah feels his own shoulders slump. 

“So sorry to interrupt, fellas,” he begins, and he _does_ sound sorry at least, so Noah can try to keep himself warm with _that_ tonight, “but they’re doing shots at the other bar—didn’t think you’d want to miss it.”

Dan sighs, but gives Phillip a smile and nods. “Thanks, we’ll be right over. They can start without us.” Phillip gives Dan an awkward thumbs up and Dan swats his hand away. Flirting, Noah might call it. 

At any rate, Noah figures he should excuse himself, so Dan doesn’t have to feel bad about leaving him with his sad empty beer to go seduce someone with his decadent and spicy self. “You go ahead, I’ll just hang here.”

Dan’s eyebrows do a series of acrobatics. “Hang here?” Dan asks skeptically. “You’ve literally been the first in line for shots the last three wrap parties.”

“I don’t—” Noah doesn’t know what to say. Should he tell Dan he remembers their _‘get lucky’_ soap/cologne conversation and that he’s totally cool with Dan hanging out with someone else tonight even though Noah is the exact opposite of cool and will definitely have some kind of drunken emotional breakdown over having missed his last chance later tonight hopefully in the comfort of his lonely bed?

Emily shouts in their direction to beckon Dan over, and Noah doesn’t want to keep him from his friends. 

“Okay, just give me five fucking minutes,” Dan says, but he doesn’t sound mad. Noah thinks cursing at Emily is one of his favorite pastimes. 

“Oh my god,” Emily continues, and she must be multiple shots deep by now, “just ki—” Noah jumps as Annie all but tackles Emily and claps a hand over her mouth. 

“Just take your time!” She calls, grinning big and looking unreasonably excited. Maybe she’s excited for Dan’s potential— _ugh_ —hookup with Phillip?

“Phillip is a good looking guy,” Noah blurts out for some reason. 

Dan blinks at him. “What… are you doing?”

Noah blinks back, and he wishes he had another beer to distract himself with. “Um. Well—” He has no idea how to finish. What _is_ he doing? Does he _want_ to be Dan’s wingman? That sounds like the worst idea he’s ever had. 

“Well?” Dan looks at him expectantly. Noah figures, why not? He likes Dan a lot, and he wants Dan to be happy even if it’s with—well, even if it’s not with him. Right? He’s that kind of guy isn’t he? 

No. He’s not.

“I remember you telling me about your—your getting laid cologne or soap or both or whatever.”

“Um.” Dan looks incredibly nervous now. “You do. I—I forgot I’d told you that.”

“Yes, so—um. I get that—that you’re trying to—”

“No, don’t. You don’t—you don’t have to say anything. I get it. I thought it might be wishful thinking, anyway,” Dan says with a shrug, smiling sadly, and this is going a lot differently than Noah anticipated. 

“What? I think you definitely have a shot with Phillip.” He’s _trying_ to be supportive.

“ _What?_ ”

“What!” Noah exclaims, and he’s more confused than ever. Dan looks completely taken aback—in fact his head has reared back as far as Noah thinks it could go without dislocating from his shoulders completely. 

“Do you—hang on, do you think I’m here, wearing my tobacco cologne, hoping to seduce _Phillip?_ ”

Noah is… still very confused. He clears his throat. “Well. He has nice hair?”

Dan laughs, loud and bright, and he holds a hand up to his own cheek like he’s feverish and shakes his head. “I don’t care about his stupid hair, oh my god, Noah.”

Noah didn’t really know the guy that well so he can’t speak to a sparkling personality or anything. He runs a hand through his own hair, effectively ruining whatever styling he’d managed to do before he left the house. “Well, I don’t know Dan!” Noah laughs falsely—a defense mechanism. He wants to go home; this night wasn’t turning out at all like he’d hoped. 

“That’s _clear_ ,” Dan says, and it stings a little, but Dan is sort of smiling at him, and it makes Noah’s heart skip again. If his heart could just calm the fuck down he could make a hasty exit and continue on with his emotional breakdown in his lonely ass bed. 

“Listen, Dan—”

“No, you listen!” Noah jerks his head back. They’re still pressed together and he can feel Dan’s breath against his cheek and it’s just really not helping anything. “That came out exactly as harsh as I meant it. You listen here, Noah Reid. I’ve been waiting like, a _long_ time for this, okay?”

“Oh… Kay?”

“Right. So. In the last three years we’ve gotten to know each other very well and I like to think in my advanced age—” 

Noah opened his mouth to rebut _that_ statement, but Dan rolled right on.

“—that I’ve gotten _pretty_ good at picking up vibes when people literally throw them at me all day, every day for three fucking years.”

Is he still talking about Noah? 

Noah just nods, because it seems like Dan has more to say.

“So. I’m wearing this _‘I’m gonna get laid’_ soap _and_ cologne to get laid, specifically, by you.”

Noah’s jaw drops, but he closes his mouth right away. 

“Now that I’ve said all of… that,” he gestures vaguely in the direction of nothing, “you go.”

“Go?” Noah’s brain cannot keep up with the events of the evening.

“Talk!”

“Oh! Um. I accept?” He does, he definitely does.

“This is literally the least sexy way I’ve ever been picked up. Or picked someone up. We are a disaster.”

Noah grins. “I think we’re all right.”

“Okay, well I guess I was hoping for something _a little_ better than ‘all right.’” Dan’s smirking now, and he might be swaying closer to Noah. 

Noah’s breath is getting shallow, he’s _nervous_ , which is just hilarious given the fact that he’s kissed Dan as David probably a hundred times. “Can we—is this okay here?” Noah whispers, glancing around. 

“Noah,” Dan whispers back, “just kiss me.”

*

They spend the next twenty minutes making out in the tiny booth. Dan gets his hands all in Noah’s hair, he’s practically devouring him, and Noah just fists his hands in Dan’s sweater because Dan will never forgive him for messing up his hair when there’s an entire party left to attend. 

Every time Dan pulls away to breathe harshly against Noah’s cheek, Noah takes the opportunity to settle his lips against the sensitive spot under Dan’s ear, paying enough attention to _just_ not leave a mark. It makes Dan tug on his hair, and redirect him back to Dan’s mouth and then he gets lost in lips and teeth and tongue. 

*

They head over to the bar for shots. Noah does two in a row, and stops himself from suggesting body shots, because he’s a _grown up_ and Dan is a _grown up_ and Noah can keep his tongue in his mouth for the next hour or two while everyone celebrates and cries and gets wasted and sings karaoke to their fearless leader. 

Noah hangs with Emily while Dan moves around the party and finishes greeting everyone. Every so often, Noah notices Dan’s drink getting low, and heads to the bar and brings him a fresh one. And every time, Dan looks at him like he wants to kiss him, but just smiles and ducks his head and says thank you, and the person he’s talking to rolls their eyes.

When Noah brings Dan another drink while he’s in the middle of a conversation with Sarah, Dan gets a hand on the buttons of Noah’s shirt and pulls him in for a sloppy kiss.

“Whoa,” Noah hears Sarah say, even over the sound of Dustin’s karaoke rendition of Careless Whisper. Noah gently pushes Dan away and takes the drink back and hands it to Sarah. “Let’s go home, yeah?” 

“You’re kinda drunk,” Dan whispers, and they’re standing way too close. 

“Yeah, _you’re_ kinda drunk, too,” Noah replies, and grabs both of Dan’s hands to start tugging him towards the door.

*

Thirty minutes later they’re finally getting into an Uber, after Dan had insisted on saying goodbye to every single person in the room while Noah sat next to Annie, waiting. Annie made him drink a whole glass of water and he complained the whole time, but he smooched her cheek afterwards anyway.

Dan looks about four seconds from falling asleep against the car window, so Noah maneuvers him so he’s curled up along the seat with his head is in Noah’s lap. 

Which was a _mistake_ , because now Dan is nuzzling against Noah’s thigh, apparently unconcerned with their proximity to a total stranger in the front seat. He lays his hand on Dan neck, giggling when he feels Dan start laughing. “Stop,” Noah whispers, and his laughter increases when Dan snorts in his lap. 

Dan clumsily sits up and leans heavily against Noah, and Noah can feel Dan’s breathy laughter against his neck. He’s practically sitting in Noah’s lap, right leg awkwardly slung over Noah’s left leg, and Noah gets his arm around Dan’s waist to steady them both for the rest of the ride. 

Noah expects Dan to get handsy—or at least lippy, given the proximity of his mouth to Noah’s neck—but he just wraps an arm around Noah’s neck and lifts his head to stare at him, a small smile playing on his lips. 

“What?” Noah asks. 

“What?” Dan responds, leaning in a little to press his lips to Noah’s cheek. “You’re so scratchy,” he mumbles, but he continues rubbing his lips over Noah’s stubble, eventually settling over Noah’s mouth. A jolt of pleasure sparks low in Noah’s belly, and Dan groans quietly in the back of his throat. 

Kissing Dan is… so much different than kissing David. Dan is—he’s persistent and bold and quietly demanding. The angle is mildly uncomfortable, but Noah isn’t going to stop for anything less than an earthquake. He slips his hand under the hem of Dan’s sweater, tucking his fingertips just into the waist of his pants. 

Dan whimpers against his mouth and the Uber stops abruptly in front of Dan’s building; Noah has to tighten his grip on Dan’s waist to avoid him toppling into the back of the passenger’s seat. 

“Come on,” Noah murmurs, helping Dan out of the car. Dan throws his arms around Noah’s shoulders once they’re on the sidewalk, and Noah lets out an _oof_ as Dan leans heavily against him. He smells like tequila and tobacco, and he buries his face in Noah’s neck.

He’s starting to think Dan has a… _thing_ for his neck. 

“Are we going to spend the night out here?” Noah teases after several minutes of them holding each other in front of the main door. 

Dan huffs into his shoulder. “ _No._ I just. This is nice.” He pulls away and blinks slowly at Noah. 

Noah smiles. “Okay,” he says, and takes Dan’s hand to pull him inside. 

*

Noah has been to Dan’s condo before, of course. Pizza nights, movie nights, barely-acceptable-excuse-to-come-over nights. He gets them up to Dan’s floor, presses Dan against his door and kisses him, slipping his hand into Dan’s front pocket to grab his keys. Dan bites at Noah’s lips and Noah pulls away with a gasp.

“God, you’re—” Noah kisses him again.

“I’m what?” He asks against Noah’s mouth.

“Perfect,” Noah breathes, and reaches behind Dan to unlock the door and push him through it. 

Once inside, they toe off their shoes, and Noah drops Dan’s keys on the table inside the door where he keeps them. “Do you want—”

“No,” Noah cuts him off. “Just want you.” He pulls Dan close, slipping his hands back under his sweater. 

“How do you know that wasn’t what I was I was going to say?” Dan says, and it’s barely a whisper because their faces are inches apart. 

“Because I know you and you were about to offer me a drink,” Noah says. “But I feel like we’ve waited—what did you say?—a _long_ time for this.”

“Mmhmm. Years.”

“We’re really stupid.”

Dan smiles. “I think it worked out okay.”

“Oh, so you didn’t spend long, lonely nights in your bed pining for me? Yeah, me neither,” Noah teases, but his stomach swoops at his own pseudo-confession. 

“What I did in my bed on long, lonely nights _wasn’t_ pining.” Dan dimples at him and scratches his nails through the short hairs at the back of Noah’s neck. “Let’s go to the bedroom?” His eyebrow shift into a pleading shape and Noah kisses the crease between them.

“Please.” Noah nods.

*

They take their time undressing, the urgency from the car giving way to tentative, clumsy exploration. Noah pulls Dan’s sweater over his head, mussing up his hair, and then he can’t resist carding his fingers through it. He expects Dan to frown, generally so protective of his look, but he practically preens under the attention. 

Dan scratches his fingers down Noah’s torso and lands at the button on his jeans. He bites his lip, and raises his eyebrows in question. Noah gives a short nod, and then Dan is slowly undoing his fly and pushing his pants down his hips. 

Once they’re down to their underwear, Dan brushes his hand across the front of Noah’s boxer-briefs, rubbing gently at his erection. His touch is light, a tease, and Noah groans and presses his hips forward. Dan smirks. 

“Eager,” he says softly, smiling, and starts to walk back towards the bed. 

Noah gently pushes him down, and Dan is quick to scoot up so his head is on the pillows. Noah crawls in after him, settling on his side, pulling at Dan’s hip so they’re facing each other. “Hi,” he says, and Dan kisses him, hot and impatient. 

The feeling of Dan’s lips dragging down to and settling at his pulse point makes the coil of want in his belly twist tighter, and he moans out a plea for more. “Dan,” he gasps, and then Dan is kissing his way down Noah’s chest and—he wants it but it’s not what he wants at all. 

“Wait,” he pants, cupping a hand around the base of Dan’s skull. 

“You okay?” Dan asks, and he looks fucking _sinful_ staring up at Noah, tongue licking slowly through the sparse hair on his chest. 

Noah nods and tries to catch his breath. “Just—c’mere.” He puts gentle pressure on the back of Dan’s head, nudging him back up so they’re face-to-face again. “Like this,” he whispers. “Want to,” Noah swallows around a weird emotion in his throat, “see you.” He watches Dan bite his lip around a crooked smirk. 

“Okay,” he whispers back, and Noah grins, leaning in to nip playfully at Dan’s chin. “Hang on,” Dan says, and shimmies gracelessly out of his underwear. Then he stretches his arm back to his nightstand, fumbling around long enough for Noah to be thoroughly distracted by the gorgeous stretch of his chest. He leans forward to get his lips around one of Dan’s nipples, biting lightly and drawing a startled moan out of Dan. 

A half-full bottle of lube hits Noah in the shoulder and he whines at the interruption. “Hey,” he huffs, but he gets the idea and shoves his own underwear down his hips. 

Dan kisses him quickly. “There’s plenty of time for that later, okay?” He says, popping the lube cap and dumping some into his hand. Noah is about to ask, “later when?” but Dan gets his hand around them both, and Noah can’t think of anything but trying to memorize every single thing about this feeling. 

“God,” Noah groans, and squeezes at Dan’s bicep. On their sides like this, Noah can’t get that much leverage, can’t work to fuck into Dan’s fist. He settles for biting at Dan’s shoulder, moaning against him. Dan works his free hand up around the back of Noah’s neck, pressing him closer. 

Noah takes the hint and bites hard, moving his lips up Dan’s throat to the delicious spot under his ear. Noah sucks a hickey into the sensitive skin there, like he wanted to earlier. 

“ _Fuck_ ,” Dan moans. He adjusts his grip around them both and the change makes Noah moan back. He gets his lips back on Dan’s, fucking his tongue into his mouth, trying his best to thrust into Dan’s fist. 

He grabs at the back to Dan’s neck to hold him, so when he pulls away from their messy kiss, they’re still close, breathing each other in. Dan holds his gaze, and the sound of their harsh breaths fills the space between them. The pleasure on Dan’s face makes Noah want _more,_ so he fumbles with the lube and gets a hand around Dan. 

“Noah, _god,”_ Dan whispers. “You feel—”

“Yeah,” Noah says. “You, too. I—”

“Please,” Dan breathes, and Noah is ready to give him _anything_. He tightens his hand around Dan’s cock, trying to make it good despite the weird angle and limited space for moving, and Dan is repeating a string of _yeses_ and _pleases_ and _Noahs._

Noah leans in to bite at Dan’s nipple again and Dan curses and tangles his hand in Noah’s hair, tugging _hard_ before gasping, “ _Fuck,_ I’m—” and then he comes over Noah’s fist. Noah kisses him through it, gentling his lips and his hand as Dan shakes apart. When Dan flutters his eyes open again, Noah grins at him, and then wraps his filthy hand around Dan’s on his own dick. 

Noah’s so close and Dan’s staring at him, hot and dark. Dan’s gaze is like a physical weight, a heavy reminder that he’s _here_. He drags his eyes down Noah’s body, caressing him, and watching him come apart. Noah’s free hand is braced against Dan’s chest, over his heart, and Dan’s heartbeat—the thumping of it against Noah’s palm—

Dan meets Noah’s gaze again, looking at him so—so _softly_ that it makes something constrict in Noah’s chest. “You look good in my bed,” Dan murmurs, and Noah’s hips twitch forward and then he’s coming over both of them, making a mess between them. He presses his forehead against Dan’s, panting against his mouth.

“Dan,” he says softly, but he doesn’t have a follow-up. Just wants to sigh Dan’s name over and over again, to make sure he knows—knows Noah doesn’t want to say anyone else's name again. 

Dan kisses his mouth, achingly gentle. “Stay here,” he whispers. “I’ll get us cleaned up.” 

*

They don't fall asleep right away, once they’re clean and dressed. Noah’s wearing Dan’s clothes, and he doesn't think he’ll ever get over how eager Dan seemed to offer them up. His first instinct is to assume that Dan wanted to improve his look, but once they were back in bed, Dan’s roaming hands told a different story. 

Noah is snuggled in close, head resting on Dan’s chest. They talk about filming. About times they almost blurted out, for real, their feelings—Noah one day over lunch when Dan snagged the last turkey club for him; Dan once when Noah had made up a stupid song to cheer him up after a rough day of filming. 

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Dan asks.

Noah rubs his cheek against Dan’s t-shirt and shrugs a shoulder. “It’s kinda hard, you know. Putting yourself out there. There was so much at—at stake, I guess. Besides you never said anything either.”

“I—I told myself I wasn't sure I could ever know if you’d say yes because I was technically your boss.”

“I wouldn’t do that.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Noah looks up at him. “But, we figured it out all right…”

“Again, I was kind of hoping for more than all right…”

Noah rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. This—this is good, right? We’re—we—”

“Do you want to go to brunch tomorrow?” Dan asks. “If we’re not too hungover,” he amends with a groan. 

“I doubt you’ve ever been too hungover for brunch, Dan.”

“ _Okay.”_

Noah laughs into Dan’s chest. He knows they’ll both be hungover, and he knows Dan will want to go to brunch anyway, and he knows that he’d go with Dan anywhere. “Yes, I want to go to brunch with you.”

The words are banal, but Noah _means_ them, and from the sound of Dan’s hitched breath—he knows. Dan clears his throat. “Good,” he answers, and Noah can barely hear him. Dan kisses the top of his head and Noah squeezes Dan’s torso. 

Noah lets out a yawn. “You’re buying,” he mumbles, pressing a kiss to Dan’s chest, and falls asleep waiting for Dan’s rebuttal.   
  



End file.
